Buffalo Rising Online

agree, pretty uninviting looking, looks more like a corner deli

This store isn't a good place for claustrophobic shoppers. I usually choose the Rite Aid down the street over this CVS, because I can move around without continually brushing up against people.

I have done some retail design (high end) it was like pulling teeth to get them to consider opening up windows into the store. Retailers want you to focus on their product once you are in the store. they don't want you to become interested in what is outside.

Very uninviting, they could really add some light and life to the corner if they were to open up those windows a little. Let people see what they have to offer. The place (along with rite aid next to it) look like they could be closed businesses most of the time. one would think it would be in their best interests to open the windows a little. It isn't 1982 anymore, it is ok to have windows in downtown now.

buffalopundit, just curious what vacancies? Court street is filled to Niagara Square. The formerly vacant courtyard mall is now offices with that tacky fake brick facade.. still better than vacant though. then the photo store, entrance to an office building, Chinese restaurant. Across the street is Lafayette square which has no vacancies facing it that I know of, Army place, HSBC, National Fuel, Across court is the new Tim Hortons, next to that a citizens bank, and after that. (old radio shack or mall entrance) so if there is the old radio shack and the place across the street then there is one or two within the vicinity.

Sure the 500 block is still empty and the Main place mall isn't the nicest of places but around this intersection there are not many storefront vacancies to be found.

@RONR...agree with you on the deli thing, living on a street [north pearl] that has worked so hard to turn around and is becoming a beautiful destination, one of our larger setbacks is "Bill's Deli" . This store is the entance to our street but instead of enhancing the neighborhood, it actually gives off a total getto vib and ruins that corner beyond words.

Have you been inside the store before writing this? The "boards" on the side are the back of shelving/pegboard that has merchandise on it. You know, merchandise.....so people can buy it...the purpose of a store. The registers line the front of the store and there is nowhere else to put it, especially with the extremely high theft rate they endure. The space the CVS is in is EXTREMELY tiny. They have NO room to spare let alone clearing an entire wall so people can see through the window (and then throw a brick through it to get what they see) when everyone knows what CVS sells and is about.

it most likely has to do with them moving into a building that was never setup for CVS....and not doing anything about the outside design before moving in. I agree that it is a very un-inviting storefront.

DISAPPOINTING...I thought this was gonna be an article about Darth Vader becoming the Presideant and CEO of CVS.

I'm unaware of any drugstore that has a cash register near the door, that allows easy sightlines from the exterior of the store. The CVS in Niagara Falls, or the one in the Sheridan Harlem Plaza have the same setup, with the windows basically blacked out. Letting criminals know who paid with a hundred dollar bill, or, how much money is in the register is not a great idea. The windows are covered to deter crime, if it were any different at their suburban locations, you'd have a stronger argument.

Would be nice if they stayed open past 5:30pm and not closed on Sundays.

I love how people feel the need to prioritize every post;

You know, the old tired "Why is there a post about this problem, and not a different 'more important' problem?" comments.

Thanks Newell for understanding that the small things are also important in the grand scheme. Especially when they're as easily corrected as this particular unnecessary blight.

Would be nice if they stayed open past 5:30pm and not closed on Sundays.

I agree that its the small things that count!

the big things count more

maybe they dont want you to see what's inside bcause there are millions of dollars of pills and other drugs

Corporations do not have the time nor do they care for every store design, except new builds in small towns that are picky about every feature on the damn building. That store on Sheridan does look great, there are a couple others in the area that are the same prototype, big improvement. They have a prototypical layout that they use according to size of the store, and that changes every 5-10 years, slightly. The pharmacy and drugs are always in the back of the store. It is not a security issue, its the floor plan layout of the store. That space is ridiculously small, and I can't imagine where else those registers could even be placed. It does look awful, but that is the simple reason behind it. Better aesthetics cost more $$, and in a struggling downtown location like this, the only thing they would do is relocate to the ground floor of a new office building. That location is prime though, I do agree.

PaulBuffalo makes a good point with regards to security and I cannot disagree, but from a design stand point, where there is a will there is a way, and certainly there is a way to address safety, as well as not blocking the glass completely to the street. I think it's simply that CVS cares about location more than adding any 'life' to their location.

RisingDamp has the answer. Just make these dead spaces into display windows and put something in them. It's not as the you could walk along Main Street and look into AM&As's. There was product and decoration in the windows. The issue isn't so much that you can't see into the store, though that would be nice if impractical for all the excellent security reasons noted here, but that all they choose to present to the street is a black wall with some stickers on the windows. Why not put some product in here an sell the store a little? Maybe BRO could offer to provide some cool images of Buffalo that CVS could mount inside the windows?